A few weeks ago we asked our readers to submit their tips and tricks they use to increase their efficiency in their gardens or on their farms. What a wonderful and useful collection of tips we received! We've gathered them here for you to read as well. Thanks everyone for all of your ideas - there's some great stuff in here!
  • My husband turned an old lawnmower and trashcan into a tool caddy for me. He also painted the handles of all my tools pink so I can find them in the grass since I have a bad habit of putting them down and losing them! - Lora
  • Children. They don’t care if they get muddy, they like getting squirt with water, they think worms and bugs are cool. You do have to keep them out of the peas. -Briana
  • well, I confess….We cover our garden space with black weed canvas. It helps warm the soil in our interesting micro climate property. Then I can concentrate on planting and keeping the plants properly trellised instead of spending all my time weeding. I also make a scarecrow each year, he holds an upside down clay pot ( bottom is duck taped) to hold twine for staking tomatos and cukes. He wears an apron of garden tools so I can grab from his pockets or just take the apron myself. He holds an umbrella that keeps the rain off him… - Kelly
  • For seeds that are slower to germinate, torch weeding has been a huge time saver and has even got us growing our own carrots again- while at he same time satisfying my husband’s pyrotechnic needs. :) - Wendy
  • We set aside time as a family and tbe chore or task gets done with ease! - Ang
  • Team work, buddy up with a neighbor and help each other out! - Angie
  • My best time saving approach is to see my time in the garden as therapy. It’s my time to slow down, forget my every day worries, be mindful & present and feel the earth in my hands and underfoot. When I see gardening in this way, it feels less like a chore that I need to get thru and instead time to really savor. - Angie
  • One of the simplest but best tips I know: Carry something in each hand. - Derek
  • We have built raised beds using trees that came down in our yard after Hurricane Sandy. There was so much loss that it feels good to reuse these trees I once sat under. We used the “kill mulch” method so that tilling does not need to be done and weeding will be a minimum. I am all about saving time and getting the most for my buck. We also have several angora rabbits who are great about providing us with a bit of compost, although a little does go a long way. The extra nitrogen in their droppings keeps the garden happy. - Diana
  • We garden in raised beds on our small 1/2acre lot. The raised beds help with water conservation as well as ease in harvest/weeding! We also layer in uncomposted compost so that we don’t have to side-dress as often. - Nicole
  • I stash newspapers and lay them between my rows, cover with soil to hide. This keeps out most of the weeds and disappears by season end. - Jeannie
  • I use 5×7 flexible photo albums for storing seed packets. - Gina
  • Many small growers like to use bulb crates for harvesting their crops. I find them particularly helpful in simplifying the multi-step process of harvesting sweet potatoes. When picked into the crates in a single layer, they can be cleaned and cured without removing them from the crates. The whole crate can be dunked and/or sprayed to remove soil. They don’t want to be scrubbed anyway. Then the crates can be stacked or spread out for curing depending on your space, and the tubers don’t have to be handled one by one. Crates with larger holes in the bottom work best to allow soil to drop out and air to flow freely. - Ross
  • This year I am using paper towel and toilet paper tubes to plant my starts into so that when I transplant I don’t have to remove each plant from those annoying plastic containers. The paper is biodegradable! You just flatten the roll both ways to form a squarish tube, cut up each crease about 1/4 inch and fold in for bottoms. Fill with seed starter and sit in the tray butted up to the next one. They absorb and help hold water that the seedlings need and take up less space! Love this idea! Recycling and Time saving. You can fold all of your little plant starter rolls all winter long! :-) - Connie
  • I installed white panda plastic on my grow shelves. I attached scrap foam board to the sides and bottom of the plastic to give it some lightweight rigidity and structure. I was able to provide complete reflective cover while making it super easy to remove the plastic for access to the starts. The plastic helped me get the healthiest starts I’ve had over four years of growing. The plants were sturdier, healthier, and taller because of the extra light they received. - Keith
  • I like to garden with soil-building, sun-loving mushroom varieties like the king stropharia and elm oyster. These fungi can easily be inoculated into woodchip or bark mulch, and can be grown alongside vegetables, shrubs, or fruit trees without taking up additional space. The end product is fertile soil, delicious mushrooms and vegetables or fruit. - Ari
  • During the season I keep my seed in a small plastic bin with all of the different varieties organized by crop. When I’m heading to the greenhouse I grab the bin knowing all my seed is there. That way when I’m in the greenhouse starting seed I don’t have to go back and forth to the house for different seed that I need. - Andrea
  • Chickens, ducks, and rabbits! We let the girls and the bunnies play in the garden in late Fall. They eat any stubs of plants remaining. Snack on the bugs. AND they leave behind some great compost ;-) - Eliza
  • We make our own potting soil in a concrete mixer. While there are decent mixes out there, nothing beats mixing coir, nutrients, vermiculite, and compost in a small concrete mixer and viola! beautiful & fertile potting mix. With this mix we don’t need to foliar feed for weeks. - Marci
  • Pre-sprouting spinach seeds a few days before planting allows for a more consistent germination rate in the field. As well as using a torch to burn holes in black plastic for planting to prevent weedy crops can save a lot of time and at the end of the season the plastic can be taken up, it can even be reused if it is thick landscaping fabric. - Lora
  • I always try to minimize trips back and forth from the coop and garden by bring baskets out with me to help carry weeds, eggs, harvested veg, etc. - Jennifer
  • Using a backpack basket from a friend of mine at wayfarer baskets helps keep my hands free while I work (weeding or harvesting) and also keeps me from having to go back and forth to pick up the piles of whatever I want to take with me.  - Connie
  • Hi everyone, I keep a note book of my garden with photo’s, so on cold winter days I can look back enjoy and make plans for the new spring garden. - Carol
  • This year we are improving our raised beds, we ‘recycle’ weeds and garden plant leftovers through our chickens and use their composted litter for a nuclear garden. Don’t you love to daydream big in the cold of winter? - Margo
  • For planting row crops close together like Peas, I connect two Earthway seeders together. I can then plant the two rows with one pass. - Suzi
  • The 2 biggest time savers for me are mulch and soil blocks. All of my paths are first lined with newspaper and then a layer of hay to eliminate weeds. All of my raised beds are covered with a thick mat of hay around the sides, no wood at all. I had virtually no weeding to do after June last year and the soil stayed loose and moist despite the drought because of the hay. I made my own soil block makers from recycled house hold items (empty vitamin bottle, charlie’s soap jar, Rx bottle) and my plants absolutely took off as soon as I put them in the ground. It seems to me that plants in soil blocks don’t get root bound like container plants do. When I was pulling the pepper plants this fall I saw the HUGE difference in the root ball between the plants I started myself in soil blocks and the plants from a local organic farm grown in peat pots. - Morgen
  • I keep a one gallon bucket under my sick for compost, and pull it out when cooking for quick and easy discarding of scraps. At the end of the day, I run it out to the compost tumbler…no multiple trips during the busy day! - Jada
  • I use old windows over my raised beds to create mini greenhouses/coldframes. this helps keep me in cool weather crops for a much longer time or makes for an earlier harvest. Last winter I harvest spinach from Dec 24 through to Thanksgiving of this year. - Jamie
  • I make a game out of harvesting with my children. The one that collects the most wins! This works well when doing green beans, raspberries/strawberries, and walnuts under the tree! It’s always fun watching them try to out-do the other and it gives me more time to work on something else while they are harvesting goodies! - Jennifer
  • I am a selective weeder. If it’s low-growing, in a pathway, and isn’t flowering, it stays. They help keep the soil cool and moist, and they become biomass at the end of the season. Instead of weeding, I go around removing flower heads, and I have a little booklet of invasive weeds that I carry around with me, so I know which ones to definitely pull and which ones are just innocent native plants. -Ali
  • I use xeroscaping techniques to save time, energy, water, and money. These concepts are great additions to the average veggie gardener’s know how. - TIffany
  • I transplant carrots. Every book you will read will say that direct sow is the only method to plant carrots. Well, I have found that if you use a loose enough medium they are transplantable. I plant 15or so seeds in numerous smaller size peat pots. I keep them in the greenhouse until they are about an three inches tall. Then I soak the peat pots in water until they are breakable. I remove the pot, and set the medium and seedlings in about 3 inches of water until they separate.They will fully separate, at this time, pull one out by the green top, not the root, then drop it in and VOILA. You could literally save more than two weeks by going this route. Make sure you pre tap all your holes for the carrots before doing all of this. If your lazy, use boiling hot water on your carrot seeds when you plant them, sow like you normally would, then put boiling hot water (be careful), in your watering can. Water your newly planted carrots, they will be up in 3-4 days as opposed to two weeks. - Chris
  • I like to use the old Compost Tumbler which we outgrew for mixing up soil block mix. We just shovel in the ingredients, turn it to mix, and dump into the cart below. This year I even remembered to make it before the compost was frozen! - Jane
  • Raised beds vs and acre or two at our neighbors on our hill. Efficiency options are many. For us some days, efficiency is going down the path and raiding the prolific fields of generous neighbors. Just bring a basket and voila. Dinner. Thanks. - Florence
  • Efficiency? I used to have a hard time getting 1 thing done in the garden, because of so much to do. Then I applied the rules of my baking to the gardening. Line things up and start with those that require breaks and set obtainable goals for the day. Things like shoveling or turning compost require ME to take a back break. while I am “resting” from that, I weed an area, mix some soil amendments or trim something. nothing strenuous. Or if the family is out there, we rotate. Pre planning has helped me out instead of just going out there and wondering what to do first. And – most importantly – involve the whole family when possible! If you wanna reap (eat), you gotta sow…. Happy gardening!  - Paul
  • Our whole family weeds the garden weekly. This way, we don’t get overgrown weeds and have to spend days getting rid of them.  - Michelle
  • I painted the handles to all my tools a very nice shade of fuschia. This saves me time every day because it’s so easy to find where I left them. Though, because they’re now pink they wander off, with my husband & boys, much less frequently. :) - Jenn
  • Newspaper in between rows, covered with mulch. No cost, no weeds, it’s fantastic! - Kelly
  • If you have a small to medium sized garden, one of the best ways to save time is to invest in a garden irrigation system with a timer attachment. You can set up waterlines to the exact spot you need to water and with the timer, you can water more accurately and efficiently. - Rudy
  • After our 60′x75′ garden got washed out by the 100 year flood in my area, we went to raised beds. What a huge time and space saver. We don’t have as much produce, but we can grow what we really need and like with almost no weeds. Love it! - Cynthia
  • I found an old mailbox and attached it to a post at the edge of the garden to put my tools in. Everything in one place! Saw it in a book once! - Jen
  • I use an old metal watering can hung on the garden fence as a place to store extra garden gloves, scissors, plastic bags, and small tools that I frequently use. They are always there, dry and ready when I need them. My friends also know that they can come and help themselves to our garden produce. Many of them will don the extra garden gloves and weed a little to say “thank you” for being allowed free access to organic veggies. I even have a friend who LIKES to weed! She has a high stress job and says it calms her spirit to focus on such a simple task. - B
  • I live in Phoenix Arizona and do vegetable garden installations with quite a bit of hard compacted clay and granite soil. When planting in ground a pick axe is going to save you a lot of time over trying to use a hand tiller or a shovel. Very versatile tool in the garden! - Tony
  • We are still very new at things, but one thing that has helped us keep the tomato plants erect in addition to the cages is having several old , washed panty hose or nylons cut and ready to use. The first 2 or 3 times we use a bow, then having to snug up the vines as they get heavier is just a simple matter of re-tying the bows. They are also very gentle to use for this purpose. - Brenda
  • Learn how to identify common edible weeds, turn weeding into harvesting! Many common weeds are delicious and nutritious, and if you don’t want to eat them yourself you can feed many of them to the chickens or bunnies, We like to eat dandelions, purslane, daisies, lambs quarters, dock, sheep sorrel, clover and many other wild edibles that come up in the gardens. - Shari
  • I live near the ocean and I collect salt hay and seaweed every spring when storms pile it up on the beach. I use it to lay a very thick mulch on all my gardens. Weeds can’t grow through it, and any that try to get started in it are easy to pull out. Also, the seaweed adds nutrients to the soil.  With this mulch, I have cut my weeding time to almost zero, greatly reduced the need to water, and have increased yields of all my vegetables. It really works! Not everyone lives near the ocean, but most areas have some free or very cheap resource that  can be used like this. Chopped leaves, straw, or local agricultural byproducts make great mulches. Even if you live in the suburbs, you can collect your neighbors’ raked leaves, shred them, and use them as free mulch. In the city, try thick layers of newspaper or cardboard to block weeds and retain moisture. - Kelly
  • At the Radnor-Winston Community Garden, we used to water our 27 raised beds by hand, usually three times a week for an hour. Last year, one very innovative soul perched sprinklers on poles at two corners of the garden and one in the middle, put them on a timer, and saved us thousands of hours of work. We still have to hand water the fruits and trees that are not reached by the sprinklers, but we have so much more time for weeding and harlequin bug killing now! If this is chosen, the prize will go to the garden. - Rosesmama
  • Best overall time saving tip I can think of is to start with a plan. If you can think ahead it helps greatly. Kind of wright down a timeline. Example: What are you going to plant after the short lived lettuces and spinach are harvested? I keep a binder and drawings of all my beds and what I am going to plant. when I planted and where I planted……Helps down the road trust me. It pays to stay orginized and not just plant things willynilly…. - Mike
  • I live in Albuquerque, New Mexico where the difference between the highs and lows are significant, winter and summer and we are at 5000 ft. To save time, in winter I create a waterproof booklet of each vegetable and fruit growing requirements, water, soil, beneficial and enemy insects, and shade requirements. This saves trips inside to research and allows visitors easy access to information to help in the garden. I also learned that if we planted our fruit trees in late December and our grapes in early March the trees, canes and grapes had time to establish their roots systems before they had to work to flower and leaf. The difference has been startling. - Hannah
  • We grew sweet potatoes for the first time last year. When it came time to cure them we hung an old comforter from the ceiling to close off an unused shower stall, heated with an oil-filled space heater, monitored with an indoor-outdoor thermometer, and stacked the crates of potatoes inside. So far the potatoes are keeping well. - Kae
  • Weeds and weeding takes up more of our time than anything else. To keep that under control we use old newspaper (black and white only), brown paper grocery bags and any other large suitable paper. It’s tedious work to put down the paper but worth it for the time it saves during the remainder of the growing season. In a very large garden or on a farm putting down paper may not be practical. We have plus or minus 3/4 of an acre in vegetables during the summer growing season and it takes time to put down all the paper. Another: Save old undershirts and rip into strips to use for staking plants. They are a bit stretchy and work well. -S.K.
  • My son loves to help me I let him pull the weeds since he likes getting dirty, plus he helps move the ducks around to keep them active, at three he even started his own cilantro plants lol and avacado tree. - James
  • I built a lattice house that is 8 feet square. I use it in the spring to harden off the seedlings before putting them in the garden. It works really well. It allows filtered light through and it also protects the young plants from strong wind, letting enough breeze through to strengthen their roots. I have room in it for lots of flats but you could make it any size by cutting down the lattice panels. - Jeannette
  • We keep our whole garden covered in leaves, save for lettuce beds, and pull back just enough leaves for each plant to have it’s space. Although this helps with weeding, (less of them and easier to pull) the main reason for this covering is worm propagation. It might help on walkway compaction - Kraig
  • On my farm and garden I utilize the integration of livestock as a way to fertilize, break down residues, and trample in cover crop seeds. - dubwak
  • The most time saving thing on our farm is to keep a list of all the seeds we have, under different categories, ie: greens, beans, herbs, medicinals etc. Whenever a seed pack is used up it gets crossed off, and we don’t reorder seeds we don’t need. Also, we get endrolls of newsprint from the local newspaper for mulch, it’s a lot quicker to unroll down the side of the garden than to use smaller pieces, just don’t do it on a windy day. - Judi
  • After the fall/winter veggies are “done” for the season, we turn our chicken flock loose into the garden area. They pick out any nutritious vegetable remains, work the soil, and fertilize all at the same time. It is a win-win for us and them. - Jacqueline
  • My husband and I gather up pinestraw and leaves in bags on the street in our neighborhood. We take the trailer and fill it up with over a 100 bags. I use this material for mulch and to enrich the soil in all of my gardens. I only have about 1/3 of an acre but I use it well. We get strange looks from the trash pickup pople! - Lu Anne
  • Our garden is on the far side of our property and our water hose isn’t able to reach it. So, we put several rain water barrels near the garden so we don’t have to haul water across the entire yard. It saves us money, time, and the water is better for the garden. - Autumn
  • Like the High Mowing folks, I keep my “harvesting” kit right at the backdoor (I have a community garden down the block) so that I only have to remember to grab the trug as I head out the door. it has plastic bags, net bags, scissors, a utility knife in a flat-bottomed basket. After a number of disastrous “tomatoes in my pocket” scenarios, I have found that this saves clothes and tomatoes, etc. - Holly
  • I second the have a plan comment. I layout all my fields and have a seeding calendar before I even order seeds. Here are a few things that help me save time.
  • A frame of angle iron can be welded together to fit any number of 20×10 seedling flats. 80″ x 20″ with a brace in the middle will carry 8 flats and is easy for 2 people to handle. I have 40″ x 20″ frames that I use when I want to move plants myself, they carry 4 flats and are useful for moving plants inside or outside.
  • If I have a weedy field that I just finished working I will wash the tillage or cultivating equipment before working in a less weedy field, this way I am not transferring weeds seeds to a place that I don’t want them.
  • At a farm that I worked on in the past, we used an old walk behind tractor sickle bar mower to cut garlic stems off. The mower was attached upside down to a pallet and run by an old 1/2 Hp motor and belt. It saved our hands from all the soreness of running a pair of hand pruners for thousands of heads of garlic, but we had to watch out fingers, this is not an OSHA approved device :) - Erika
  • Hi! I think my gardening notes have helped me be more efficient and effective in my garden. I have a spreadsheet of how and when things happen, my seed orders, and one of my garden plots. By tracking this from year to year, I get to see my real data and how my efforts are working out. Cheers. - Erikka
  • I run a very small csa (15 families) on Hawaii island and I also take care of three young children that are very high maintenance, so I know about limited time and I am always looking for ways to increase efficiency. One method that I use is after a crop is spent, I cover the entire area with a black 6 mil plastic mulch and keep it covered for about a month until all the weeds are dead and brown. I remove the plastic and then lightly till with a BCS tiller. The soil is turned with all the dead weeds and grass and any crop debris and all of that organic matter is recycled for worm food and I find that unless it’s a very heavy feeder like broccoli or cucumbers I need very little chicken manure and my plants thrive and then I transplant or direct seed and my crops thrive that my customers love! - Chad
  • I save on time and resources by not doing isolation practices while trialing new fruits then saving the seed from hybrids formed in my garden. This way I can evaluate plants yet get something of value from the use of space and nutrients used during the season. For example I am trialing heirloom watermelons for one that will produce in my region. I take notes on which plants flower to give me an idea of what will be pollinated then keep the seed from those plants that grew the most vigorously. - ZC
  • When I want to start a new garden bed, I place flattened cardboard boxes down and place my compost soil on top. The cardboard kills the weeds or grass that may be growing and will decompose over a short period of time. It also gives you the opportunity to garden even if you have bad soil.
  • I try use the brown boxes without alot of ink. I have been making my garden beds like this for years and it saves alot of work tilling and clearing the area. - Mombo
  • I garden using raised beds. I have built the frames(from scrap lumber) for two more beds and have started compost piles within the frames. This way there is no need to transfer composted materials. - Mark
  • I agree with the newspaper to help keep the weeds down, weeding is I think the most time consuming part of gardening, but I would also love to hear nmore about natural, safe bug control! The biggest issue I have had is the squash bugs! -Christine
  • I also plant onions in multi-blocks- 4 onions seeds per 2″ soil block planted out at 12″ spacing work well for me. I also use row cover on newly planted beds to slow evaporation and reduce teh amount of time I need to spend irrigating. - Connie
  • Several years ago I discovered the grub hoe. It is so versatile and indestructible, I can no longer use a standard size hoe. I use my grub to shape beds, weed and break up soil. One tool to clean and lug around, and a nice tool for muscle strengthening too! - Gigi
  • Due to sacroiliatis and osteoarthritis in both knees, all of my gardening is container or raised bed gardening. I’ve gotten more creative as time goes on and utilize a multitude of items for containers. At the end of spring planting this year, I will have all of the containers linked with a micro-sprinkler and/or drip irrigation system. Being able to turn on 1 hose, and move on to other things, will save a lot of time and energy in my gardening efforts. In addition, I garden intensively, layer my crops, and grow anything that will climb UP rather than having it take up ground space. If mini-melons get too heavy I have plenty of clean, worn out panty hose that can be used to tie up and support the melons. Next week I will start winter-sowing of several perennial flowers and cool weather crops. Once they are planted they will be moved outdoors where they will sprout and grow when the weather is warm enough for them. My raised beds are reserved for perennial crops: asparagus, Jerusalem artichokes, rhubarb, horseradish. The containers range from old blue jeans customized so they grow potatoes in seats, strawberries in the thighs and pot herbs in the lower legs, to a 5′ x 10′ x 14″ packing crate that will hold perennial herbs; from 40 gallon horse troughs which will hold pole beans, melons and cucumbers in rewire cages, to plastic pots bought at Lowe’s, from old pots and pans to an old percolator. -Aurora
  • I have a huge weed bank and simply do not have the time or back stamina for in-row weeding. For small and delicate items (carrots, lettuces, etc) I spread about a 1/4 inch deep and 6 inch wide swath of organic seedling mix in my planting row. Add t-tape watering strip and then plant my seeds. The seedling mix is just deep enough to act as a mulch, and the controlled watering helps quickly germinate my seeds to get a head start on any persistent weeds. I don’t make my own seedling mix, I purchase it, but it is well worth the investment. At the end of the season there is no clean up or debris as there is with paper or plastic mulch. - Claire
  • We have 3 acres of property, 1/4 acre of that dedicated to garden. I let my chickens out all winter long in the garden area, and they pull at the weeds that grew after the season, scratch at the dirt looking for bugs (double benefit tilling and debugging) and poop as they wander, fertilizing as they go! Come March, they will be removed from the garden area…so that the fertilizer can get in the ground. No work for me! - Melissa
  • Two simple tips…no empty handed trips…whether you pull a wagon or use your hands, carry something both directions when treking to the gardens. And, a little teeny hint….if you see a bucket out of place, or a weed right where you walk every day, take 5 seconds to pick it, pull it, whatever…your farm will look so much better and it won’t be a case of “everything is out of control and I don’t know where to start.” Even one relocation or elimination a day does make a difference. (You do have to make a self imposed limit on this as it can get carried away) - Karyn
  • I recycled a metal cabinet, placed it next to the garden and it holds tools (hoe, shovel, rake) in the bottom, and small things on the shelf (shears, string, and a copy of Territorial Seed catalog because it describes the plant culture for all the plants so I can get a quick refresher). Now everything is at hand. I also keep a change of clothes in my car, so when I pull up from work, I change in the car and dive right into gardening – all done and ready for the evening in a half hour. - Rob
  • I reuse food containers like yogurt and cottage cheese to start seeds in. I also scavenge containers, stakes and other items from businesses that throw things out. Once I took four wire mesh doors out of the trash to use as a trellis. - JC
  • When I get all my seeds (usually at a slow time in winter), I go through, make a note of when they need to be started or planted, and sort them into plastic baggies marked for planting dates. I do the same for anything I want to succession plant. Then I make a note on the calendar that something should be planted that date. It keeps us from losing track of what needs to be planted when, and forgetting to plant things on the appropriate date in the spring rush. - Jess
  • I keep a small bucket of sand in to store and clean my small garden tools after use. Just wipe off the big chunks of soil, then stick in the bucket. The sand seems to sharpen them as well as clean them, plus the handles face up so they are easy to grab. - Jen
  • Mulch by any method: newspaper, straw, wood chips, landscaping fabric, you name it, is a huge timesaver by reducing the amount of weeds, and helps to contain moisture thereby reducing the amount of necessary watering. - Teri
  • I just bought a water timer. It will save me time by watering my garden for me after I spend some initial time hooking it up to my soaker hoses and programing it. - Tash
  • Time savers for me are my garden cart (it is well worth every penny I spent to get a sturdy one)to lug my stuff around and mulching which I guess is a no brainer for everyone. When it comes to seed starting, it is just having my seeds categorized/ organized and ready when the time comes, keeping good records (which is so counter to the way I work but it sure is helpful in the long run) especially for things I want to save seed from. - Debbie
  • Thank you for the great tips, everyone. I love your website–thanks for being part of the change we are all working for ! Together we might all make it. Here’s a tip for working your T-tape drip irrigation fittings in the cold–if you are not blessed with huge super strong hands. Take a thermos (I have an old small one that is perfect) filled with super hot water (but be careful you don’t spill it on you). Dip the ends of tape into the thermos, they will slip on super easily and you can tighten the fittings with no leaks. Close the lid after each use to save the heat. This is magic for me. - Vivian